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Patents: Perfumed pistes

The Japanese do not just dream of perfect ski slopes, they are developing
the technology to produce them.

Six Japanese companies have carried out ‘extensive research’ to provide
artificial snow for Japan’s skiers when nature fails to fill the need (European
patents 440 256 and 440 257).

Existing snow machines only work properly at very low ambient temperatures;
otherwise they just produce slush. The new trick is to use granules of polymer,
such as polyacrylic acid salts, which absorb a large volume of water. The
snow makers then mix the bloated polymer with natural snow, if available,
or other artificial snow. Finally they freeze the mixture.

Ice bridges form between the polymer granules and snow crystals to make
good snow for skiing. The companies have tried colouring the snow with dyes
and adding perfume, so that the snow smells nice as well as looking good.